Hosiery and method of making the same



Jan. 14, 1930. L. DINKELSE'IEL 1,743,998

HOSIERY AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Sept. 24, 1926 ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 14, '1930 I mwmmon nmxnnsrmn, or wear rmw Your, new mnsmr nosmnx AND union or mxmq rim sun;

Application filed September 24, 1928. Serial mi 187,439;

This invention relates to hosiery and the object of the invention is to provide hosiery wherein the leg portion thereof is constructed .of lace, said hosiery being so constitutedthat it can be made by machinery.

It is well. understood by those familiar with t the manufacture of hosiery that the wall of a stocking, for example, must be woven in such manner that it will stretch in all directions. This'is essential in order to permit the stocking to be drawn over the limb and to insure close conformity to the limb when worn. For this reason, it is the common practice to knit stockings, socks,etc., with a drop stitch, the character of which is such as to provide for stretching of the stocking in all directions with an inherent tendency of the stocking to contract into close conformity with the limb. Drop stitch stockings are almost universally used. They are thecommon conventional construction and aside from the hand knitted stockings constitute the prior art of this invention.

Fashion decrees from time to time that hosiery be ornamented but the ways in which woven hosiery may be ornamented are relatively limited. Forexample, one of the most common ways of ornamenting hosiery is to form so-called clocks thereon. Another aowvay is to cause a run in the stocking and then gather the transverse threads to provide open work. It has also been suggested to actually cut away portions of the knitted fabric and sew into the hole thus produced lace medallions. This latter method is very expensive and very'little of this work has been done.

The ornamenting of hosiery, as commonly carried out in the prior art, has not changed through a long period of years and is restricted almost entirely to the two first methods which I have specified. By these methods, the designs must necessarily be of more or.

less rigid conventional form and very little opportunity is afio'rded. for designs of entrancing beauty. I r

In accordance with the present invention, I depart entirely from all prior practices and form a stocking, and more particularly the leg portion thereof, entirely of machine made lace or embroidery. This departure from .tion, as distinguished from the prior art, is

prior practice makes it possible to produce in stockings an almost unlimited variety of designs of great beauty, and, moreover, I am able to make this hosiery in the manner, which I will hereinafter describe, economically, so that they ma be sold at a price not appreciably higher t an ornamented woven stockings of the prior art.

. An important feature of the present inveninherent in the fact that drop stitch stockings are susceptible to runsif astitch be broken, whereas the stocking of the present invention cannot run andnumerous stitches may be broken without materially detracting from the appearance of my stocking.

In order to produce a lacestocking for the trade, and one capable of sale at a moderate price, hand work must be practically eliminated. I havesucceeded in doing this in the present invention by utilizing the method next to be referred to.

, In making a stockin in accordance with the present invention, t e design is initially worked by machinery upon a suitable acking, preferably cotton which'has been chemically treated. The design is worked upon this backing generally by the use of a Schifili I embroidery machine. During this operation,

all that portion of the backing which corre- 0 sponds to a development of the shape 0 the leg portion of the stocking is worke complete, the machine operating to complete the design chosen for the entire leg. After the completion of this work, I obtain what I term a blank which embodies the backin with the design worked thereon. This blan is now either subjected to heat or to any suitable chemical process whereby the backing is dissolved out leaving the design intact. The embroidery which remains constitutes the leg of the stocking. Its lateral edges can be joined in any suitable manner to produce a seam running up the back of the leg and any M suitable foot or leg top can be secured to. the leg body by stitchingthe parts together in any desired way. V V

In carrying out the method as I have described it, the leg will be formed in one piece.

It is within this invention, however, to form derstood as illustrative, only, and notes circumferential portions of the leg in separate parts and join them in vertical seams. For example, I may make the leg of three or more parts and join them in vertical seams as suggested. If desired, the blank may be made sufliciently long so as to extend to the upper edge of the stocking, but it is cheaper to make the blank only long enough to extend slightly above the knee and to secure to the upper edge of the body of the stocking a knitted top portion.

Of utmost importance in theformation of a machine made embroidery or lace stocking is the character of the lace or embroidery used in the fabrication thereof. Lace or embroidery, as heretofore made, would not be satisfactory if incorporated in hoisery for the reason that, as hereinbefore stated, it is essenital that a stocking expand and contract in all directions. Embroidery made to expand or contract in all directions has never heretofore been made. As a matter of fact, my long experience in the manufacture of lace and embroidery has been directed to the making of lace or embroidery that would not stretch in all directions, since such lace and embroidery would soon get out of shape.

In the present invention, therefore, it is necessary to so dispose the embroidery stitches that the expansibility and'contract ability to which I have referred may be present throughout. It is to be understood that I may incorporate in the design of the lace relatively small non-expansible medallions, but the stocking as a whole must be adapted for the expansion on which I have laid emphasis in order that it will not be torn during use.. The particular stitching which I employ in practice will be hereinafter more fully explained, but it may be here noted in passing that such stitching will give in ever direction without breaking of the threads which enter into the construction of the stitch.

Features of the invention, other than those specified, will be apparent from the hereinafter detailed description and claims, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

The accom anying drawings illustrate one practical emlibdiment of the invention, but the construction therein shown is to be 15netining the limits of the invention.

Figure 1 is a general view showing a stocking embodying the present invention in place on a limb.

Figure 2 shows the body of the stocking illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 3 shows on greatly enlarged scale a number of rows of stitching of the ty which I preferably employ in the fabrication of the stocking of this invention.

Figure 4 shows two rows of stitching on a larger scale; and,

' directions.

Figure 5 shows the manner in which the stitch is made.

In carrying out the present invention, I start with a suitable backing fabric which, in the event that a silk stocking is to be made, is preferably a cotton fabric chemically treated, so that the application of heat to such fabric will cause the same to fall apart and become dissolved. This backing fabric is stretched or spanned on a pantograph or other automatic shuttle machine preferably on th well known Schifili machine, and then, in a manner well known in the operation of such machines, the design is embroidered upon the backing, the work proceeding until the entire design is finished. Inasmuch as the invention'is not restricted to the matter of particular designs, I do not consider it necessary to elucidate in connection with the design employed, although, in practice, I find it desirable to use the design wherein there is a motif extending vertically of the blank in such manner as to conceal the seam or seams to be subsequently made in the formation of the stocking,

In the design shown in the drawings, the vine stem 1 constitutes the motif to which I have specifically referred in this connection, and it will be noted that this is repeated, so that, if desired, the leg of the stocking instead of being made in one piece as shown, might well be made in three pieces and joined along each vine stem 1. However, I do not restrict the invention in this regard.

After the design has been completely worked, i. e., after all that portion of the backing, which corresponds to the stocking leg, has been worked over, the backing is removed from the embroidery machine and said backing is dissolved out in any appropriate many ner known to the embroidery art. This leaves the stocking leg portion 2, which I have illustrated in Figure 2, devoid of the backing and of open work throughout. The lateral edges 3 of this portion of the stocking are joined together with a vertical seam, and the edges 4 are seamed to the foot 5 in any suitable manner. This foot may be woven or knitted foot, the character thereof being optional. The upper edge 6 of the leg portion 2 is seamed to a top 7 in a like manner and the texture of this top is optional.

Embroidered stockings may be economically made in the manner described and a wide variety of designs may be employed. Medallions may be worked into the designs here and there and flowing motifs, such as the vine stem, may be incorporated. It will be noted, however, that in the design shown the motifs are so placed that if an expansible stitch is employed, the stocking leg will stretch in all The matter of the stitch employed is an important one for unless an expansible stitch is used, satisfactory results cannot be obtained.

.In practically carrying out the invention, the stitch which I utilize is as best shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5.- In the last mentioned figure, the needle thread is designated 8, while the shuttle thread is designated 9. The first stitch extends from A to Bat which latter point, the needle and shuttle threads are brought into looped relation to complete the first stitch. The next stitch extends to C, where the needle and shuttle threads are again looped to complete the second stitch. The third stitch extends to D where the needle and shuttle threads are again looped to complete the third stitch, and the next stitch extends to A, where the needle and shuttle stitches are again looped to complete the fourth stitch which constitutes the beginning of the next cycle of operations, designated A, B, C, D. The. first and fourth stitches of .each group, cross one another to provide a closed loop 10.

Now, by reference to Figure 4, it will be noted that the second line of stitches, which are shown in dotted lines, are formed so that the loopingof the needle and shuttle threads at A, A etc., is within the loops 10 of the previous row of stitches. It will be understood in this-connection that the thread shown in dotted lines in Figure i extends through the loops 10, so that the successive rows of v stitches are actually interlocked with respect to one another. In this way, the .successive rows are locked together to buildup the embroidery, and it will also be apparent at this point that if any one of the stitches becomes broken, it will not start .a run for there is an actual tying of the needle and shuttle threads in each loop brought about by the operation of the machine in looping the needle and shuttle threads together as will be readily understood. It therefore follows that when the backing issubsequently removed, the successive rows of stitches, to which I have referred, will be in interlocked relation to one another and the fabric will be held together b this interlocking of stitches when the backing is removed.

I also wish to call attention to the fact that none of the stitches to which I have referred extend in alinement with the preceding stitch. All consecutivestitches make either an acute or obtuse angle, thereby producing an enclosed area which is ofan unstable sha e or form. In other words. i'n'the complete embroidery there is a marked absence of threads running in any one direction, such, for example, as horizontally or vertically of the stocking. In the absence of such continuous horizontal or vertical threads, the utilization of the stitch which I have described will bring about that expansibility, so necessary in stocking construction and will enable the stocking to give in every direction. After the backing is removed, the stitches which extend from D to A and from A to B straighten out so that the an Is at A becomes very nearly 180 degrees, ut, in, practice, these stitches never completely straighten out, there. is always a slight deviation from alinement, and this being so the unstable condition ofv the fabric which imparts thereto its expansibility in all directions is maintained. I am aware that other stitches than the particular stitch arrangement shown in Figure 5 may be utilized in the formation of a stocking leg embodying this invention and I do'not restrict the invention to this specific disposition of stitches, the general arrangement shown being for illustrative purposes as required by-the statute.

In Figure 2 of the drawings, it might appear that the stitches run horizontally and vertically, but this showing is conventional as it is manifestly not possible to show on this small scale the exact shaping of the stitches as illustrated in Figures-3 to 5 inclusive.

As hereinbefore stated, it is possible to make an entire stocking or sock of open work embroidery after the manner which has been described, but for economical reasons only the leg portion which is commonly exposed to view is made in this manner,.the top and foot being of any conventional form and of cheaper construetion or materials.

By the present invention, a new article of manufacture which also forms apart of the invention has been produced. Never before has a machine fabricated stocking of open work embroidery been made and this despite the beauty of design and wearin qualities of which such hosiery is susce ti le. I have departed from thebeaten pat and produced an article of pronounced merit and utility which may be manufactured so economically as to sell at a price no greater than the more Expensive knitted stockings now on the mar- The foregoing detailed description sets forth the invention in its preferred practical form, but the invention is to be understood as fully commensurate with the appended claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, hosiery 3. As a new article of manufacture, hosiery wherein the body of the leg is fabricated of machine made embroidery stitches, said body being expansible in all directions.

4. In the making of hosiery, the method which consists in. machine working interlocking embroidery stitches, expansiblev in all directions, on a suitable fabric backing, While said backing is fiat, to produce a blank shaped to form the leg ortion of hosiery, thereafter removing the acking without disrupting any of the embroidery stitches i0 leave said embroidery intact, and thereafter uniting the lateral edges of said embroidery to form the leg portion of the hosiery.

In testimony whereof E have signed the foregoing specification.

LAJVRENCE DINKELSPIEL. 

